sperm donor half-sibs, got many?
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News rules may be needed because sperm banks may be selling lots of sperm from "popular donors". I've discussed this in an ethics class and I'm glad it is in the public view now. I was happy to learn... Read More

Sep 12, '11

The difference is that this requires alot of effort and forethought. People desire to know their father,or at least who is their father. I just don't like the idea of anonymous sperm donors.

Sep 12, '11

The situations mentioned above by anotherone are considered unfortunate,with the children paying the price. I don't understand why it's ok to create these circumstances intentionally...

Sep 12, '11

i have wondered about my unknown brothers and sisters. they would all be older than i am. my dad who was an attorney/physician, donated his sperm while a student in both programs because students were not allowed to work while med or law students back then, and while my mom worked as a social worker, he felt he should contribute as well.

i didn't know he'd donated sperm until college, when i brought someone i was seriously dating homefor the weekend. my usually unflappable mom's jaw hit the floor! she managed to pull herself together and be a good hostess, but the very first moment we were alone, she asked me if he had been adopted. she said, "didn't you and ___ ever notice how much you look alike?"

my dad was mostly swedish and had that unusual almost colorless white blond hair and his eyes werean unusual shade of blue that someone once described as "haunting" and ___ had the same hair and eyes. once it was pointed out to me, i realized he could be a cousin or a brother.

that was pre-dna and we eventually drifted apart, but all i can say is: yikes!!

Sep 14, '11

I knew someone online whose child was a donor baby. The child ended up having a horrid genetic skin condition that they felt came from the donor. They were able to track down other children from this donor on-line by posting the donor number and name of the clinic, and found that several other children had this same condition. The parents of these kids were about to file a lawsuit, not to get compensation, but to stop the clinic from using this person's sperm because apparently he was quite a prolific donor. I never knew the outcome of it. It just goes to show how probably in real life this man would have only fathered a few children, and even less if they had stopped because of this condition. Instead he has fathered many many affected children and probably doesn't even know it.